The group's third album, Wheels of Fire (1968), was the world's first platinum-selling double album. The band is widely regarded as being the world's first successful supergroup. In their career, they sold more than 15 million copies of their albums worldwide.

Their music included songs based on traditional blues such as "Crossroads" and "Spoonful", and modern blues such as "Born Under a Bad Sign", as well as more eccentric songs such as "Strange Brew", "Tales of Brave Ulysses" and "Toad".